Analysis

Site Search

AT&T Ready to Probe the White House’s Role in Time Warner Deal

Apparently, AT&T will try to dig into whether the White House influenced the Justice Department’s review of the company’s planned takeover of Time Warner if the government sues to block the deal. In the event of a trial over the $85.4 billion deal, AT&T intends to seek court permission for access to communications between the White House and the Justice Department about the takeover, apparently. The Justice Department’s antitrust division is poised to file a lawsuit to stop the deal if it can’t reach an agreement with the companies. That has sparked speculation that President Donald Trump, a relentless critic of Time Warner’s CNN, is pushing the department’s leadership to oppose the combination, which had been expected to win conditional approval by the end of the month. The White House and the Justice Department have denied Trump had any involvement in the review. The president said during his trip to Asia that the merger may go to litigation. If the government sues and the case proceeds to trial, AT&T plans to ask for communications between the White House and the Justice Department as part of the routine exchange of evidence between the two sides.